Stuff

Throughout 2010 we traveled as a family from Cape Town to Kenya and back.  Our home was an off-road caravan.  We were very comfortable and had all that we needed, and plenty to enjoy besides.  If I sat on the bed I could reach pretty much everything we had.  We used and appreciated it all.

Since arriving back a month ago we have house-sat at one house, now another and we will soon move a third time to a rental house.  Meanwhile I have been humping and hauling boxes out of storage.  Things we haven't needed or missed for a year.  Books, kitchen equipment, clothes, musical instruments, bicycles, electronic equipment, linen, craft, toys, more toys, more books, some furniture.  Load after load.

Consider that when we left Cape Town, over a year ago, we had thoroughly sold/ recycled/ thrown out everything we could, leaving only 'the essentials'[ for storage.  It was a wonderful, lightening feeling to de-clutter, simplify, be free of stuff.  Consider also that we would not want to think of ourselves as materialistic.  'Live Simply, Live Well'  is a motto for us.  And now you see that I am trying to come to terms with just how much we still have.  Nothing like a dose of carrying all your belongings up and down stairs to bring it home that we still carry a heavy burden.

So.. should I be thankful, or dismayed?  Should I draw up a list of 'things to take on the journey through life (and NO MORE)'? How should I feel about possessing material things?  

I am psyching myself up to start opening the boxes and get to the bottom of what we really need, really want and what we can dispatch !